UHI Perth principal under further pressure as trade union joins calls for her to quit

The GMB says students and staff at Perth College have been "failed and abandoned" by Dr Margaret Cook’s executive team.

By Justin Bowie

May 8 2025, 6:00am

UHI Perth principal Margaret Cook. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson.

UHI Perth’s principal is facing further calls to quit in a row over leadership and finances at the institution.

Trade union GMB claims Dr Margaret Cook allowed the university college’s financial position to decline despite repeated warnings.

“Students and staff have first been failed and now abandoned by the executive team of UHI Perth led by the principal,” said Keir Greenway, a senior organiser with GMB Scotland.

UHI Perth is currently fighting a £2 million deficit and floated the idea of axing all degrees to plug the gap before U-turning.

Papers from last year show the institution paid off 50 staff who took voluntary redundancy at a cost of £964,000.

Mr Greenway’s intervention comes after Perthshire SNP MP Pete Wishart said the university college needs fresh leadership.

Keir Greenway, a Scotland Organiser for the GMB. Image: PA.

The GMB organiser said: “Our members have repeatedly raised concerns about financial management and governance at UHI Perth but been ignored.

“The financial crisis now facing the institution cannot be ignored, however, and cannot be tackled by a principal who allowed it to unfold despite repeated warnings.”

The GMB wants the Scottish Government to directly intervene and help install new leadership.

Mr Greenway also wants the SNP to launch an independent probe of the further education sector to examine if it is meeting fair work guidelines.

Perth College is battling a financial deficit. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

It’s not the first time unions have voiced their anger against Dr Cook during her tenure.

In 2019, members of teaching union EIS backed a vote of no confidence in the principal’s leadership team over proposed job cuts.

We reported last week how UHI Perth is currently trying to devise a recovery plan without a finance director – after the man holding that post quit last month.

Last year, Perth College shut its nursery due to financial difficulties.

And the institution has also been rocked by the collapse of an aviation firm which has close links to the university.

UHI Perth declined to comment.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Staffing issues are an operational matter for individual colleges to manage.”